Stateless boys, coach rescued from Thai cave granted citizenship

Three boys from the football team, were granted Thai citizenship along with their 25-year-old coach on Wednesday.

Race against time: Timeline of Thai's soccer team search-rescue ops

The team included 12 young soccer players and their coach who were stranded in the Tham Luang cave.

They were able to obtain water dripping inside the cave and average weight loss was 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds).

In the darkness, down the twisting stone tunnels and through the murky water, they - 12 boys and their coach - awaited an uncertain future.

'The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe,' the Thai navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page.

The head of operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said rescuers had learned from experience and faster in bringing 2nd batch of survivors out.

Medical personnel were seen carrying a person, wrapped in green sheets and lying flat, into an ambulance close to the cave.

On Sunday, four members of the 'Wild Boar' team were successfully brought out from the cave.

As night fell, the operation to rescue the remaining 8 boys and their coach was called off until Monday morning.

Rescue effort is likely to take two to three days to complete, Major General Chalongchai Chaiyakorn, an army commander, told reporters.